Spielberg confronts issues of race in `The Color Purple'
By JOHN CRAWFORD
Scene Movie Critic
Steven Spielberg had doubts when Quincy Jones first approached him to direct a film based on Alice Walker's novel "The Color People." Spielberg, after all, was the director of popcorn movies like "Jaws" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark," not serious, character-driven dramas based on Pulitzer Prize-winning books. Besides, Spielberg, being white and male, wondered if he could relate to a film dealing with an African-American woman's experiences.
"Don't you want to find a black director or a woman?" Spielberg asked.
"You didn't have to come from Mars to do "E.T." did you?" replied Jones, who was serving as a co-producer on the film.
Spielberg eventually agreed to helm the 1985 movie, taking a challenge that faces many artists: how do you accurately and realistically present a subject that you may not be entirely familiar with? For the most part, he was successful.
While he ultimately produced an emotional and solid movie, which served as a precursor to serious films such as "Saving Private Ryan" and "Amistad," not everyone was happy with the director's efforts. The film brought Spielberg critical acclaim and another box-office hit, but also backlash from the black community. Critics charged that he toned down the content of Walker's book to secure a PG-13 rating and, ultimately, the film received one of the biggest shutouts in Oscar history.
Set in the south during the first part of the 20th century, a time of hate and division, the film centers on the quiet Celie, played by Whoopi Goldberg, who survives in a world of hurtful relationships and mean men. Confronted first by an incestuous father, then an abusive husband, she struggles to keep hope while serving these men in kitchens and bedrooms.
As the vulnerable but resilient Celie, Goldberg gives an excellent performance. Because her character is forced into subservience and hushed words by the dominating men around her, Goldberg brings out Celie's inner feelings through a face serving as a soul mirror. Her emotions flow through her eyes and expressions. Her smiles are warm, her frowns heartbreaking.
Hers is just one of several strong performances in the film, including Danny Glover as Celie's husband, whom she calls "Mister," and Oprah Winfrey (yes, that's Oprah Winfrey) as the tough Sofia, a woman whose spirit is eventually broken by racist whites.
Winfrey and Goldberg were both nominated for Oscars. In all, the film received 11 nominations, though amazingly, none for director as the Academy continued a resentment towards Spielberg that wouldn't pass until his Holocaust epic "Schindler's List." On Oscar night, "The Color Purple" didn't win a single trophy.
The film also faced backlash from parts of the black community who criticized a white director's portrayal of black characters. Though Mister eventually grabs some redemption by the end of the movie, he and other male characters are essentially leering, sexist and violent adulterers and rapists.
"You got to let them [women] know who has the upper hand," Mister tells his son, "Nothing can do it better than a good beating."
Of course, with complicated issues such as race, there are no easy answers or solitary perspectives. Though the movie presents a world where relationships are often based on beatings, Goldberg and others defended the picture.
"People see lots of movies where white men abuse white women, and they never think `This movie stereotypes whites,'" she said.
In a way, though, all the controversy surrounding the film makes it an even more interesting viewing. Not only is it full of memorable characters and scenes, but it forces an audience to think about tough questions regarding race and the sensitivity of artists' representations of worlds outside their own.
All Scene Stories for Thursday, March 30, 2000
